stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #26 Posted February 7, 2016 OD was standard the blue-blue grey were basically ships paint ans applied later The talker/gunners helmets were blue but were specifically navy.I have observered dark and light shades of blue.Even had one that was repainted a battle ship grey. But there is no evidence of OD below the Blue...strange!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Costa Posted February 7, 2016 Share #27 Posted February 7, 2016 real nice job for sure. brought back to original life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpstout Posted February 7, 2016 Share #28 Posted February 7, 2016 Fine job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doyler Posted February 7, 2016 Share #29 Posted February 7, 2016 But there is no evidence of OD below the Blue...strange!!! The interior is green. If it was blue from the starting line the inside would be blue or blue under the green........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #30 Posted February 7, 2016 The interior is green. If it was blue from the starting line the inside would be blue or blue under the green........... Oh, yeah, you are right. Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerick1450 Posted February 7, 2016 Share #31 Posted February 7, 2016 I recently purchased a Helmet and liner that had a liner with a red strip similar to the helmet that started this post. Here is a link, and photo> http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/254765-red-line-helmet-liner/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #32 Posted February 7, 2016 I recently purchased a Helmet and liner that had a liner with a red strip similar to the helmet that started this post. Here is a link, and photo> http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/254765-red-line-helmet-liner/ Interesting liner. Maybe a training instructor helmet??? I do know that the sailors didn't know what beach they were to land on until the day or hours before the invasion. They would hurry and paint their helmets using ships paint before they landed (i.e. yellow for yellow beach). I am not sure if they painted their liners. I am not sure there was a need to do so. My grandfather's liner does not have a stripe and a few photos I have of the sailors with liners on do not have stripes either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Government Issue Posted February 7, 2016 Share #33 Posted February 7, 2016 A hunch, some elbow grease, patience, and a lotta faith with an excellent outcome. Nice job Tyler. How hard was it to get the paint off? Do you have any picture of the paint removal in process? Makes you wonder what's under a lot of postwar repaints... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #34 Posted February 7, 2016 A hunch, some elbow grease, patience, and a lotta faith with an excellent outcome. Nice job Tyler. How hard was it to get the paint off? Do you have any picture of the paint removal in process? Makes you wonder what's under a lot of postwar repaints... It was actually very easy to do. It was my first time too. Here are some photos of the helmet during the process: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #35 Posted February 7, 2016 Here was my first test area. NOTE: The small circle area that has been ground down to the silver shell was already there when I bought the helmet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #36 Posted February 7, 2016 Here is my helmet in black&white compared to the 4th BB sailors helmet during Operation Dragoon. Same contrast and same size stripe. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GITom1944 Posted February 7, 2016 Share #37 Posted February 7, 2016 You did a great job stripping this one. Looks like a great addition to any collection and a nice companion piece for your grandfather's helmet. I haven't looked for or know of any references for Navy helmet markings in the Med. Tyler, this is a topic you've looked at quite a bit. Have you ever come across an op order regarding the stripes? The reason I ask is the question about blue helmet vs. OD helmets. One thought that comes to mind is that even during ops in the Med, the stripes may not have been unique to Beach Bn sailors but instead they may denote Naval Personnel involved in the operations at each beach. So there might be non-beach bn naval personnel on a beach who were temporarily detached from a ship's crew. This was common in the PTO where beach personnel and boat pool personnel were drawn from ships. They may have had their own helmet (perhaps already blue) or one pulled from a stack with a stripe added. Just ideas at this point. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerick1450 Posted February 7, 2016 Share #38 Posted February 7, 2016 My helmet liner has the red stripe in medical tape. It was easy to remove and replace as needed..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #39 Posted February 7, 2016 You did a great job stripping this one. Looks like a great addition to any collection and a nice companion piece for your grandfather's helmet. I haven't looked for or know of any references for Navy helmet markings in the Med. Tyler, this is a topic you've looked at quite a bit. Have you ever come across an op order regarding the stripes? The reason I ask is the question about blue helmet vs. OD helmets. One thought that comes to mind is that even during ops in the Med, the stripes may not have been unique to Beach Bn sailors but instead they may denote Naval Personnel involved in the operations at each beach. So there might be non-beach bn naval personnel on a beach who were temporarily detached from a ship's crew. This was common in the PTO where beach personnel and boat pool personnel were drawn from ships. They may have had their own helmet (perhaps already blue) or one pulled from a stack with a stripe added. Just ideas at this point. Tom Hey Tom, There were 9 platoon throughout 3 companies in the 4th BB. I should note that not all platoons used the stripe system. I have been speaking to a sailor from B company and he said they never painted their helmets. I have photos from him that prove this. I do know that C company used stripes as well as A company. The only mention of helmets in the pre op order for Dragoon was Navy shore personnel required to mark their helmets to identify them as Navy. No mention of how to mark their helmets though. The 4th BB used this stripe system throughout all 3 invasions. Although they almost all used stripes, each stripe was a different color for each platoon. The color was based off of the beach they were to land on. Here are some photos of B Company sailors NOT wearing a stripe after the invasion of Salerno: Here is a sailor from C Company not wearing a stripe on the beach during Operation Dragoon: Here is a good example of the multiple layers of stripes from different operations: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #40 Posted February 7, 2016 My helmet liner has the red stripe in medical tape. It was easy to remove and replace as needed..... If I find a photo of a liner with a stripe, I will let you know. So far I have not. Is there a name in the liner? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #41 Posted February 7, 2016 You did a great job stripping this one. Looks like a great addition to any collection and a nice companion piece for your grandfather's helmet. I haven't looked for or know of any references for Navy helmet markings in the Med. Tyler, this is a topic you've looked at quite a bit. Have you ever come across an op order regarding the stripes? The reason I ask is the question about blue helmet vs. OD helmets. One thought that comes to mind is that even during ops in the Med, the stripes may not have been unique to Beach Bn sailors but instead they may denote Naval Personnel involved in the operations at each beach. So there might be non-beach bn naval personnel on a beach who were temporarily detached from a ship's crew. This was common in the PTO where beach personnel and boat pool personnel were drawn from ships. They may have had their own helmet (perhaps already blue) or one pulled from a stack with a stripe added. Just ideas at this point. Tom An interesting thing to note is the OD overpaint. It appears to be of late war. If this was used on a ship, wouldn't they likely paint it grey or blue again? Why OD? Maybe since the beach battalion was attached to and lived with the Army, the army repurposed it once the battalion was dismembered after Op Dragoon? Who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerick1450 Posted February 7, 2016 Share #42 Posted February 7, 2016 Yes, there is a name, just a last one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 7, 2016 Author Share #43 Posted February 7, 2016 Yes, there is a name, just a last one. What is the name? I have a full roster from the 4th BB. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill47 Posted February 7, 2016 Share #44 Posted February 7, 2016 Great job, and I love the side-by-side photos and the research you put into the whole project. Really nice. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theorywolf Posted February 8, 2016 Share #45 Posted February 8, 2016 Yes, great looker! You have a great eye and a steady hand! Hope it gets id'ed. Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share #46 Posted February 8, 2016 This operation instruction for the pacific in 1945 mentions the deck blue paint on the helmets: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAW Posted February 8, 2016 Share #47 Posted February 8, 2016 This is impressive.....and a virtual tutorial on how to properly document something like this. With the step-by-step photos, supporting documentation, and period photos, you've done a genuinely excellent job. Most painted WW2 helmets scare me to death....but this one......I would gladly put in my personal collection. If you hadn't taken the time to document the process, there would always be questions about it. Bravo, sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blacksmith Posted March 2, 2016 Share #48 Posted March 2, 2016 Great job on the restoration - I agree, I wouldn't try removing the remaining OD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrei Posted March 2, 2016 Share #49 Posted March 2, 2016 Great job! And beautiful Navy helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stealthytyler Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share #50 Posted March 3, 2016 Thanks guys. It sure is a gem! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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